April 26th marks
the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl – the worst nuclear accident
in human history. At the time, many hoped that it would mark the beginning of
the end of our dependence on nuclear power. Sadly, like so many of our darkest
days, the tragedy of Chernobyl has faded into our collective unconsciousness.
The problem is that we are ill equipped to imagine the consequences of such
tragedy.

"We did not … possess a
system of imagination, analogies, words or experiences for the catastrophe of
Chernobyl," explained Svetlana Alexiyevich, a writer from Belarus. So
instead, most of us simply forgot.

"Chernobyl is a word we
would all like to erase from our memory. It [opened] a Pandora's box of
invisible enemies and nameless anxieties in people's minds, but which most of
us probably now think of as safely relegated to the past," said UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000. "Yet there are two compelling
reasons why this tragedy must not be forgotten. First, if we forget Chernobyl,
we increase the risk of more such technological and environmental disasters in
the future. Second, more than seven million of our fellow human beings do not
have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering, every day, as a result
of what happened. Indeed, the legacy of Chernobyl will be with us, and with our
descendants, for generations to come."

It would appear that our
inherent desire to put the nasty stuff behind us far outweighs our compassion
or our common sense. The result is that we have not only forgotten the tragedy
of Chernobyl, but thanks to the spin doctors in the nuclear industry, we are on
the verge of a global nuclear revival. Ontario is just one jurisdiction where
nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance. Ontario's Energy Minister Donna
Cansfield is expected to announce any day that new nuclear constructions will
be part of the Liberal government's new energy plan.

Cansfield's statement that
nuclear is part of a "…reasonable and prudent plan for energy in this
province," is neither reasonable or prudent.But like so many other decision makers, she has bought into
the nuclear industry's carefully crafted misinformation campaign that has
positioned nuclear as the environmentally responsible alternative to the
burning of fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change.

"New nuclear reactors
will not contribute to a sustained reduction in global warming, nor will they
be able to keep energy prices down over the long term," writes Gerd
Rosenkranz. "Rosenkranz's comments are found in his research paper,
"Nuclear Power – Myth and Reality" that will be presented at
the upcoming international conference, Chornobyl 20 – A Remembrance for
the Future, taking place in the Ukraine, April 23 to 25.

"Artificial warming of
earth's atmosphere will surely pose one of the greatest challenges of the 21st
century. But there are less hazardous ways to deal with this problem than by
using nuclear power. Nuclear power is not sustainable, because its fissile fuel
materials are as limited as fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.
Moreover, its radioactive by-products must be isolated from the biosphere for
periods of time that defy human imagination," continues Rosenkranz.

There's that word again:
imagination. Finding an energy solution isn't about manipulating the
technologies that we already have in place; it's about having the courage and
the vision to imagine a better, more sustainable future. The nuclear industry
knows this. That's why it has invested so heavily, (and apparently
successfully), in convincing governments, like Ontario, to breathe life into
what were the dying embers of the nuclear industry.

As Rosenkranz points out,
"Nuclear energy is not only a high-risk technology in terms of safety, but
also with respect to financial investment. Without state subsidies, it does not
stand a chance in a market economy. Yet companies will continue to profit from
nuclear energy under special, state-controlled conditions."

Rosenkranz says that instead
of investing public money to resurrect an otherwise dying industry, we should
be investing in renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures.

"The future of nuclear
energy is past, whereas the future of renewable energy is just beginning."
Lest we forget.

RELATED WEBSITES

Chornobyl
20 - A Remembrance for the Future was an international conference held in
April in the Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the world's worst nuclear
disaster. The conference website includes excellent background materials and
presentations, including Gerd Rosenkranz's paper.

www.chernobyl.info is the international
communications platform on the long-term consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.